I also note that expected lifespan, while seeming like a pretty good indicator of welfare, is going to be extremely sensitive to assumptions about when an organism becomes sentient for r-selected species. E.g. whether a trout is already sentient in an egg, at the point of hatching, or only two days later might change its expected lifespan from 0, to <1 day, to maybe a week (these are guesses, but I think they’re quite plausible).
I don’t think that undermines the measure, it just shows how hard this is… :/
I also note that expected lifespan, while seeming like a pretty good indicator of welfare, is going to be extremely sensitive to assumptions about when an organism becomes sentient for r-selected species. E.g. whether a trout is already sentient in an egg, at the point of hatching, or only two days later might change its expected lifespan from 0, to <1 day, to maybe a week (these are guesses, but I think they’re quite plausible).
I don’t think that undermines the measure, it just shows how hard this is… :/
Oof! That’s a big variation! Thanks for flagging that!